Bill Could Make Dorms at Black Colleges Safer

Photo credit: The Hilltop A small fire began at Howard University's Slowe Hall April 3 after a student cooking french fries in a kitchen left a pan of grease on the stove.

The bill would provide for the installation of fire sprinkler systems in college dormitories across the country, including funds specifically for financially struggling historically black colleges.

"A bill like this would be a tremendous help to our institution," said Ishmael Edwards, vice president of Rust College, where 160 female students were forced out of their dorm for the entire school year by a fire that failed to set off alarms. "Most black colleges don't have sprinkler systems and that would be one way that we could include sprinkler systems. It would certainly help bring our facilities to be in premier state."

Since January, fires have ignited at four historically black colleges in student housing that did not have sprinkler systems: at Alabama A&M on April 16, Howard University on April 3, Rust College on March 15, and Fisk University on January 6.

Most were caused by student carelessness. At Rust and Fisk, fires began when students left incense sticks burning. At Alabama A&M, officials are investigating arson as a possible cause. In some of the fires, the flames spread well beyond the dorm room where they started, sending panicked students stumbling down smoky hallways and causing extensive damage.

• Two students at Alabama A&M in Huntsville jumped from their dormitory room on the fourth floor of Terry Hall as others ran to escape a 6:37 a.m. fire April 16. One suffered a compound fracture to her left ankle while the other woman injured her face and head, according to local news reports. The fire was contained to one room and the entrance of the room immediately across the hall, and police were looking into the possibility of arson. Some fourth-floor residents had to be moved to another dorm.

• At Howard University's Slowe Hall April 3, a small fire began after a student cooking french fries in a kitchen left a pan of grease on the stove, according to the Hilltop student newspaper. Although everyone safely evacuated the building, students questioned whether the frequency of false alarms at the dormitory made students slow to react, as some believed the fire to be another false alarm. The blaze was contained in the kitchen.

• About 160 freshmen women barely escaped their dorm rooms March 15 during an early-morning fire at Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., that failed to set off alarms while destroying six rooms and causing significant damage to the building. The whole dorm was shut down for the rest of the school year and is expected to reopen in the fall, said Vice President Edwards. Fire officials said the blaze started in a room on the east wing of the brick building, where a student had burned an incense stick and forgotten to extinguish it before falling asleep.

• And on Jan. 6, students at Fisk University in Nashville who had just returned from Christmas break fled from their dorm rooms in New Livingston Hall during an 8 a.m. fire caused by a burning incense stick, according to Nashville news reports. Two students suffered minor injuries; only about 17 were in the dorm at the time, although about 60 had been assigned to live there for the term. The all-male dormitory does not have a sprinkler system because it was built before one was required by law, fire officials and Angela Curry, general counsel for Fisk University, told Nashville news media.

In the wake of these fires, parents and fire officials have questioned the colleges' fire safety practices and policies, the use of equipment such as alarm and fire sprinkler systems, the frequency of false alarms and the students' preparedness for evacuating.

"HBCUs often have buildings that are older or not as modern," said Nicole Williams, the communications director for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, sponsor of the College Fire Prevention Act (HR 128), a bill before a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee.

"Many black colleges don't have the necessary funds to install fire prevention equipment," added Williams, a Spelman alumna. "It's important to upgrade these facilities with the proper fire prevention equipment so that they will be prepared for the worst."

When automatic sprinkler systems are present, the chances of dying in a fire and the average property loss per fire are cut by one-half to two-thirds, compared to not having sprinkler systems, according to a study by the National Fire Protection Association.

"We strongly encourage people to put it in because of the added safety," said Marty Ahrens, the NFPA's manager of fire analysis services. Ahrens added that oftentimes, fire sprinkler systems could be a good backup when fire alarm systems don't work.

"What concerns us in dormitories is that students are sleeping very soundly," she said. "Some students may not be in the best position to respond in the most appropriate way when a fire occurs. Another thing that also helps with sprinklers [is] they are operating very soon after a fire starts. It can take time for fire departments to arrive. Sprinklers can contain a fire."

Fires on and near college campuses are all too common. According to the Center for Campus Fire Safety, a nonprofit organization based in Amherst, Mass., and devoted to reducing the loss of life and property from fire on college campuses, more than 500 campus fires occurred from 2000 to 2004. Of those, seven occurred on black college campuses, according to the center's records.

Ed Comeau, the center's director and a strong advocate of HR128, attributes most fires on college campuses to the lack of fire sprinkler systems, to missing or disabled smoke alarms, to the careless disposal of smoking material and to the use of alcohol.

"The government has a role in encouraging and creating an incentive for fire safety," Comeau said. While he supports the legislation, he says he doesn't think the full responsibility to foot the colleges' fire safety bills should fall on the federal government.

"Colleges should treat a fire sprinkler system just like any other necessity, like the Internet or telephones," Comeau said. "As a good landlord, it's the school's responsibility to provide a safe environment for their residents."

One state hasn't waited for federal action to install sprinklers in college dorms.

The Tennessee Board of Regents is in the first year of a 10-year, $15 million plan to put sprinklers in dormitories at their system's six campuses, including historically black Tennessee State University. Tennessee State is scheduled to get its new sprinklers this year. Students will pay more to live in campus housing to help cover the cost of the fire equipment, according to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

The regents decided to invest in dormitory sprinklers after their awareness was raised by two deadly nursing home fires, the newspaper reported.

Sprinklers aren't the only solution. Comeau noted that college students are new at living on their own and do not have adequate training for fire prevention.

"It's important that students get a strong [fire prevention] education that starts in dormitories so when they do move off campus, the learning stays with them, " Comeau said.

Daarel Burnette II is a senior at Hampton University.

Posted May 14, 2005